Wildcat wrestler not wasting time disposing of opponents

For three years Brawley Union High School wrestler David Villagran has been a standard-bearer when it comes to Imperial Valley wrestling.

On Saturday, the 17-year-old senior proved exactly why he is one of the best in his weight class in Southern California as he won the 112-pound division at the El Capitan Duels in Lakeside and took the meet's outstanding wrestler award.

While his 5-0 record in the tournament was impressive, it wasn't as impressive as how he did it. Villagran pinned each of his opponents in less than 50 seconds.

"I just went in there to get it over with. I was kind of mad and I wanted to take out my anger on them," said Villagran. "Usually when I wrestle, I take my time and play with the guys. But this time I didn't want to mess around. I didn't want to waste any time."

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What got to Villagran was the weigh-in system at the tournament. He initially weighed in on one scale, which said he was overweight, forcing him to run and cut pounds. He came back and weighed in on another scale, that showed he was well under 112 pounds and probably didn't have to cut weight in the first place.

"That scale being wrong really got me mad. After that, I just got zoned out and was ready for anyone," he said.

Brawley took first place in the 10-team meet and had eight wrestlers who won their weight class.

"As a team I thought we wrestled really well. We had a lot of guys step up for us. We had to replace nine guys from last year's team and everyone is definitely stepping it up," said Villagran, a member of last year's Brawley team that won the CIF San Diego Section Division III championship. "Right now I'm one of the team captains and I'm just trying to help coach (Keith) Smith as much as possible, you know just setting the team straight and working hard in practice."

Next on the agenda is the Imperial Valley League opener against Calexico on Wednesday, a duel the Bulldogs have been looking forward to since the season began.

"I know they want us. When you're at the top, everyone's going after you, so you just have to back up what you have," Villagran said. "Everybody's after us and we have everything to lose. But just like the team's down here are after us, there's teams that we're going after, too, like (perennial San Diego area power) Poway. But as long as we keep putting in the work and working hard during practice, we'll be fine."